Desire in Ambiance
by Stephen Ratliff
Summary: After Amok Time, Spock reflects on his life with T'Pring.
1. Desire in Ambiance

**Desire In Ambiance**

ASC Story Header

Title: Desire in Ambiance

Author: Stephen

Series: TOS, First Times Series

Rating: [R]

Codes: S/f (T'Pring)

Challenges: Ides, Young Love, Babies

Part: 1/1

Summary: After Amok Time, Spock reflects on his life with T'Pring.

...

The last of the paperwork was in front of him. Even with the mental binding of Vulcans, physical paperwork still followed any union start to finish. Spock's father said that it was worse on Earth. Spock sighed. He'd fallen into the footsteps of his father, despite all attempts. The decree before him was just like the one he'd found in his father's papers, before Spock had received his betrothal bond to T'Pring. He'd sworn that he wouldn't leave T'Pring to raise a son alone like Sarek had left Sybok with that princess.

Yet, he had left her behind.

Spock let himself go back to the day he first met T'Pring. They'd both been just seven years old. T'Pring had been practically tied up in the embroidered betrothal gown, when she had been pushed to kneel beside Spock, as both sat stiff for the hours of the betrothal count. The begets, as Spock's mother called them, were particularly long on Spock's father's side. T'Pring's maternal line wasn't much shorter, either. They endured it, though.

They endured a lot, back then.

Vulcan children were no less meanspirited than human children of the age. Spock was different, and different children got teased, mercilessly. The betrothal bond brought T'Pring into it. The bond strengthened in adversity. By the time they reached their teens, their betrothal bond was stronger than some marriage bonds.

Starfleet had been her idea.

Their parents had plans for them. Spock would be a scientist and later an ambassador like his father and grandfather before him, and T'Pring would raise their children. These plans did not fit Spock and T'Pring. They were both scientifically inclined, but T'Pring wanted more. T'Pring wanted to command an exploratory starship.

The mating heat betrayed them.

Not that leaving two teenagers alone in a house where adults were not set to return for hours had ever been a smart idea. Especially on Vulcan, when the male involved had refused soup ... though perhaps the sign wasn't known by Spock's mother. Leaving the romance novels out and letting T'Pring read them probably wasn't the best idea either. T'Pring had been addicted to Harlequins since she was ten.

The bond started it.

If the images of human sex hadn't been transmitted over the bond by T'Pring as she read, Spock would have never stepped closer to see what was on the cover of the novel. The cover had a well muscled man holding a thin but well endowed female in his arms. That pulled him closer. The female looked like an older T'Pring.

He kissed her.

Vulcans weren't known for kissing. But as he kissed her, she opened her mouth, and across the bond came suggestions. Spock's mouth opened, and their tongues engaged. T'Pring tasted of cinnamon apples, and smelled of lavender from her hair.

The book fell to the floor.

Spock pulled T'Pring up into his embrace, and found T'Pring's hands reaching under his shirt. He followed her lead, his hands sliding into the slit in the back of her dress and up. His hands stroked her back, and opened the back of the dress. Between kisses, their breath was explosive, as they breathed the minimum and returned quickly to the kissing.

Sometime during their kissing, their clothes came off.

The feeling of their hot naked bodies against each other inflamed the heat of pon farr. Spock's hard cock poked T'Pring's belly, seeking out her soaked vagina. Down to the floor their bodies slid, as Spock found his way inside her. T'Pring's long finger nails began to scratch Spock's back as their minds bonded and focused on the primitive actions that biology was enforcing on them. Intimately their bodies and minds entwined, as Spock thrust in and out of T'Pring's fertile body.

The first time had never been equaled.

His hot seed shot into T'Pring's womb, as Spock cried out in feral triumph. There was no words to describe the feeling. It was not necessary, because his mate shared every surge of pleasure, and returned that sharing with her own. The heat spired out of control, as the pleasure spilled over their bodies, their perspiration staining the carpet below them.

His mother had been unsuccessful at removing the stain.

Once Spock finally withdrew from mind and body, he nearly collapsed with exhaustion. T'Pring's tight vagina did not allow a single drop of Spock's seed to escape. She turned to him and caressed his cheek. Somehow he drew strength from that action, and soon rose from the floor. He picked up his nearly as exhausted mate, and carried her to his bed.

They did it three more times in his bed before his parents came home.

When his mother found Spock and T'Pring in the midst of their fourth coupling of the night, she had screamed for his father. It was like they had been doused with a bucket of ice water. Being caught caused their desires to flee, pon farr having been filled with that first coupling.

Her parents had been understanding.

Not so, Spock's. His mother had expected Spock to wait until marriage. As for Ambassador Sarek, sometimes Spock thought his father's disapproval was more for how it happened than the fact that it happened. He certainly had been pleased with the results, even if he'd disapproved of the stain on Spock's mother's oriental rug.

Still, T'Pring and Spock had enjoyed the afterglow.

The deep bound of pon farr joined them intimately, and their mental connection for the next few days was very deep. Their hopes and dreams blended, and in their short life they had never felt so close. Plans were made, and solid alliances forged, as the afterglow solidified their bond.

Then everything fell.

T'Pring had applied for early admission in Star Fleet. Unfortunately her acceptance letter came the same day that she tested positive. You couldn't go to Star Fleet Academy pregnant, and T'Pring's dreams were crushed. Spock did his best to comfort T'Pring. After all, it was his dream too.

Spock applied for a year's deferment to his own acceptance.

T'Pring had done so as well. His was accepted, hers was not. His father didn't know about the application, or the deferment. His father still thought that Spock was going to the Vulcan Science Academy. T'Pring knew better. She wasn't going to let her mate stop his plans, because of what biology had done to them.

They had undergone a battery of tests.

Early pon farr was quite rare. The conclusion was that Spock's human side was why it had happened, his pon farr triggering hers. There was worry that Spock would undergo more frequent than normal pon farr, but he hadn't. Spock suspected that something in the study had prevented it. T'Pring had her own theories.

Their daughter had been born eight months later.

T'Ziar was the one thing that held Spock back from going to the Academy. Spock's mother had suggested the little baby girl's name. It was not a traditional name, but it appealed to Spock and T'Pring. T'Ziar was soon the center of their lives. The bond still joined them tightly, and together they took care of their daughter. It was the best time of Spock's life.

Then it came time for Spock to leave for the Academy.

Spock didn't want to leave T'Pring and T'Ziar, but T'Pring insisted that if she couldn't go, at least Spock could and should. At least one of them would live their dreams. Spock's father objected. He thought that Spock should attend the VSA, not join Star Fleet, but Spock and his family stood strong.

Soon he was in San Francisco.

Spock wished that T'Pring and T'Ziar could have joined him there. It was against regulations, so Spock only got to see them once a year until he graduated. The first year she'd been exhausted by taking care of T'Ziar alone. He'd shammed his mother to helping, after T'Pring loudly objected to Spock's consideration of leaving the Academy. After that first visit he never again considered leaving Starfleet.

Spock missed his daughter growing up.

T'Ziar was bigger. His daughter was always eager to get her father's attention. If wasn't for T'Ziar, Spock probably would have noticed T'Pring's growing distance. He felt guilty about not being there to see her grow up.

After his graduation, Spock had two months leave.

Pon farr was not in evidence, but they still did it. He felt T'Pring's pleasure in the act, and for the moment, their bound strengthened again. It helped that Spock's Mother watched T'Ziar whenever they asked. For those two months, Spock and T'Pring prospered. Spock's father still wasn't speaking to them, but it did not matter.

Then the Daniel Boone arrived to pick Spock up.

The departure was un-Vulcan-like. T'Ziar had to be pulled away from her father. T'Pring had tears in her eyes, as she gave Spock a kiss that he would dream of for years. It was engaging, deep, and T'Pring poured her soul into it. If it wasn't for time or the location, T'Pring would have been on the floor with Spock pounding between her legs.

It was three years before they were able to meet again.

T'Ziar stayed with her grandparents when they met on that distant outpost. The Boone had dropped him off there and he had three days there with T'Pring before his new ship picked him up. They never left the quarters they'd been assigned. In fact T'Pring didn't get dressed the whole time. Spock wasn't in pon farr as far as they knew, even though it should have been happening around that time, but they enjoyed as much as if they had been. Sex was deepened the bond, as did the long talks between.

Her dreams were still there.

Spock wanted her to apply to the Academy again, and T'Pring said she would as soon as T'Ziar was old enough. He didn't want her dreams to end. He knew she lived her dream through his letters and the bond, but it wasn't enough. T'Pring was not a woman who could live as a homemaker for the rest of her life.

All too soon Spock joined the Enterprise.

Promotions were swift under Captain Pike, but leave was rare. Spock only got a few days here and there. Sometimes it wasn't enough to even reach Vulcan, or T'Pring. They lived through their letters and pictures, plus an occasional video link.

T'Pring grew distant.

By the time Captain Kirk took command of the Enterprise, they no longer made the effort. Several times Spock had enough time to visit, or T'Pring had been close enough, yet they didn't meet. He was more likely to meet up with his now teenaged daughter than she who was his mate. He never could point out when it had happened, but the distant bond was just a thread by the time it happened.

Pon farr finally hit, and hit hard.

He sought out T'Pring through the bond and found it gone. When he reached Vulcan, deep into pon farr, he found that she had left him for another. Stonn had taken her away from him. And then she had snatched away revenge by choosing Spock's own Captain to challenge him. Her logic was impeccable, but Spock had to wonder where the woman he loved had gone.

The betrayal was deep.

He thought he'd killed his Captain. His soulmate had rejected him, and the reason seemed to make no sense. It was true that as First Officer of the Enterprise, his public profile had risen, but that had been a given with his career. It was like she was repeating someone else's words. When they were teens, it was their dream to be where Spock was now, and T'Pring had always insisted that Spock continue, even though she couldn't. He was aware that both T'Pring and T'Ziar intended to apply for the Academy in the coming year. So the dream was not gone for T'Pring.

The betrayal had came out of no where.

Now the last piece of paper was in front of him. That one piece that would signal the end of his bond, the bond that Stonn had taken from him. Spock could not bring himself to sign it. The pen stayed poised over the paper, unmoving, as if their was a force field between it and his pen. It fell from his hand.

The intercom's beep had startled him.

He answered it. "Commander Spock."

It was Lieutenant Uhura. "Commander, we've just received a message from Vulcan. It's marked private and urgent."

"Transfer it to my quarters," Spock replied. He had no idea who it was from. T'Pring wouldn't send anything, and his parents were on Earth. They hadn't even made it back to Vulcan for his marriage. He typed in his private decoding key.

It was from T'Pau.

I greet thee my great-grandson with most unfortunate tidings. She who was to be thy wife was found by your daughter today, beaten and near death. T'Ziar was most traumatized by the discovery, and her mother remains in critical condition. T'Ziar was most insistent that we find out what happened to her mother. It was with great reluctance that I mind melded with she who was to be thy wife.

I'm afraid that she who was to be thy wife has been greatly traumatized by a most foul and forbidden technic. Thy suspicions of Stonn have been justified. He preformed kaf-fee-farr on she who was to be thy wife. Then once kal-if-fee had been done with your Captain as the challenger, Stonn turned on her. It seems that he desired to be the one who killed you. She who was to be thy wife was attempting to save you, and has paid greatly.

I shall be staying in thy residence with thy daughter until her mother recovers. I recommend caution, for Stonn appears to have left Vulcan after assaulting she who was to be thy wife.

Spock closed the file.

He had to get to Vulcan. He had to go to T'Pring's side. Perhaps it wasn't too late. Perhaps after a score of years he would finally be able to call T'Pring his wife.


	2. Desire in Stone

**Desire in Stone**

The first thing that T'Pring noticed when she woke up was the scent of the hospital room. She had become intimately familiar with the smell during the time after her first pon farr. She'd sworn that she would avoid the hospital from then on. T'Ziar had been born at home, to the approval of T'Pau. T'Pring had basked in that approval at the time.

Sound came next, but for a long time that was all she had, sound and smell. At first the only sound was the soft beep, beep, of the heart monitor. Then she started hearing voices, familiar voices.

"Thy mother would not want you to collapse from hunger, T'Ziar." That was T'Pau. Something must have changed massively for T'Pau to be at T'Pring's bedside. T'Pring had been sure that her actions at the place of marriage had irrevocably severed her from the matriarch of Spock's clan. "Come with me, child. Thy grandmother will keep thy mother company while you eat."

T'Pring heard the door open and close. She hoped her daughter would eat. T'Ziar had a bad habit of losing her appetite when she was worried. She heard a chair scrape the floor.

"T'Pring, I wish you would wake up." Spock's mother's voice was filled with grief. T'Pring hadn't expected her injuries to effect Amanda. After all, Amanda had been quite upset with T'Pring for betraying Spock by her association with Stonn. "I know that man hurt you badly, and worse, took control of your life and your mind."

"I remember when you first came to visit Spock after your betrothal. You were only eight years old, and it was probably the first time you spent any time outside of your family. When I opened the door, you peaked in so tentatively. It wasn't until you saw Spock, that you came out of your shell."

"I had been told about the betrothal bond, and how it would connect you and Spock, but it wasn't real to me until I saw your face go from scared to a smile, the moment Spock looked up. Then as quickly as it did so, it disappeared, as you clamped down on your emotions. Spock was no better ... I don't think he ever bothered wipe that smile off his face, any time you were in the room and there was just family."

"I used to berate myself for that day that I left you and Spock alone in the house while Sarek and I went to Ambassador Soval's funeral. It was the height of irresponsibility to let a teenage couple stay alone in a house, especially since I suspected that Spock might be entering pon farr. Spock never refuses his favorite soup, otherwise."

"Oh I pushed it off as anger regarding my oriental rug ... I don't know what it is about that rug, but it seems to attract that kind of thing. Finding you and Spock mating in his room after doing so on the rug had to be the greatest surprise I've received on Vulcan. Still, I knew you loved my Spock. That was enough for me."

"I saw your joy as you felt T'Ziar grow inside you. When I suggested that name, I was joking. I had no idea that Ziar was ancient Vulcan for contentment ... that is until she was five years old and I looked it up ... you pulled one over on me, Sarek, and even T'Pau. For weeks after I told her of my linguistic research, she was calling you she who fooled all Vulcan whenever we talked."

"When T'Ziar was born, I knew that you'd have to pry her away from Spock. I had to ask five times before he would let me hold her. It was as if T'Ziar knew the time she got with her father was going to be restricted in the future. And Sarek will deny it, but his granddaughter has him wrapped around her little finger too."

T'Pring heard the door open, and someone step in.

"I remember when T'Zair was just learning to walk, toddling along. She started to fall, and you should have seen Sarek trying to make sure she fell on a pillow. T'Ziar kept tilting this way and that, and Sarek was certain that she was going to fall and hurt herself on that stone floor. When she finally did fall on the pillow, it was a belly flop, and her laughter even got mister impassive impassionate Vulcan Ambassador to laugh, though he'll deny it."

"I most certainly will not, wife," Sarek's said. His voice was even, but T'Pring could hear the inflections of love in it. She'd heard the same in Spock's over the years. She missed what she no longer had a right to, but so desired. By now Spock had to have signed the papers. "My granddaughter brings much to my life, as does she who shall be my daughter does."

Hope flared to life in T'Pring with those words. She wanted Spock, but she did not deserve him, not after the way she's betrayed him. Her attention focused on her ... she wasn't sure what to call them ... the paternal grandparents of her daughter was all she had the right to now.

"Spock is on his way," Sarek said. "T'Pau has arranged for the Enterprise to return to Vulcan and for Spock to have some long delayed time with his family." Time with his family ... did that include her? Her heart beat increased for a moment as her hope swelled. "Estimated time for arrival is twenty-two hours and fifteen minutes, barring Mister Scott pulling off a miracle and getting another few points of speed out of the Enterprise, our son says."

"You spoke to Spock?" The surprise was evident in Amanda's voice. T'Pring was aware of their recent reconciliation on the way to the Babel conference, the week before, but she was under no illusion that the two were close, like they had been when she and Spock were first betrothed.

"Yes, my dearest wife. It was, as you expected, a bit uncomfortable after all these years, but I spoke to our son before coming to the hospital. He is quite concerned about T'Pring, and no, he has not, nor does he intend to sign those papers. Spock entrusted me with a message for his daughter, as well. I see she is not at her mother's side?"

"T'Pau forced her to go get something to eat. I swear that T'Pau and Spock are the only ones who can get that girl to do anything she doesn't want to. They should be in the dinning hall."

"My wife, if there is anyone who T'Pau can't get to do something, they're long dead," Sarek said. T'Pring heard something that she suspected was a kiss, a passionate one at that, then the door opened and someone walked out.

There was a moment's silence before Amanda's voice picked up again. "I know you wanted to, no dreamed of joining Spock at the Academy. I remember how much stink you two raise over Spock going. Sarek was furious, not that he didn't try to contain it. Still, if you've ever wondered where that ugly duck vase disappeared to, try Sarek throwing it out the window ... or trying to. He forgot to open it, and it busted all over the window seat. I made him pick out all the pieces."

T'Pring had wondered where the duck vase had disappeared to. Spock had made it when he was eight, and had put lots of time and research into getting it right. She liked that vase, and nearly had asked Spock for it, before it disappeared.

"I still end up having to pull one out of my dress a week later. Once I saw that you were firmly behind Spock, I told Sarek that stopping Spock from going to the Academy was a lost cause. It took him three weeks to agree with me, during which time he got a cold shoulder and an even colder bed from me."

"I know what went on that last night before Spock left for the Academy. In fact, I kept T'Ziar from disturbing you that night. You and Spock certainly proved to me that the once ever seven years passion was the greatest myth of Vulcan ... and if you think that Sarek didn't benefit from that, you're an even greater fool than I've ever thought you were."

"I know you missed Spock while he was at the academy. Those twenty-seven page letters you sent certainly proved it. I really wished they hadn't held you to the letter on the rules, or you'd gotten married before he left. It would have solved so many problems."

T'Pring heard Amanda sigh. It was true. If she'd been married to Spock, she would have been able to stay with him at the Academy, even though she wasn't a cadet, after the first year.

"I'm certain that you intended to greet Spock differently when he came home after graduating from the Academy. That glare you gave your daughter when she practically jumped into Spock's arms couldn't have been just for her overly emotional display ... something that T'Ziar seems to rejoice in. You really should keep a better eye on her and her betrothed. They're almost as passionate at times as you and Spock were."

"I helped Spock find that little cottage that you and T'Ziar live in. Don't tell Spock, but I also paid half the asking cost. He still thinks I talked Stovin down. I just had to make certain that Stovin's new son was on your list for T'Ziar's possible bondmate. I didn't think either of your would object to my suggestion, and since you did chose Samul, I think I was right. There aren't very many part human Vulcans, and I knew any of them would jump to the top of any list once Spock found out they were."

"I still remember that betrothal. You'd given T'Ziar your own betrothal gown, and she sat so still on the pillow while all the begets were said. It was half way through before I noticed that slight upturned left corner of her mouth and realized that she was actually up to some mischief. I couldn't believe that she managed to conceal a squirt gun in her sleeve and was strategically shooting the chanter in the back every time he turned away from her. And if anyone ever told me that it would be T'Pau who actually caused those attendance to break out into laughter with her 'I suggest that next time thy consider voiding your bladder before the ceremony,' I would have denied the possibility."

"I kept a lot better eye on T'Ziar and Samul when you went away to see Spock. You probably would never believe me, but T'Pau paid your passage. I would have, but she thought it best that I not get further involved in the conflict between Spock and his father. And least you think that T'Pau is a old biddy who never gets out of that role, if you wake up, I promise to show you her teaching T'Ziar to skate. I don't think she knows I have those pictures, and if you tell, I'll deny it."

"I should have seen it the year after your second pon farr, and yes, I'm sure that you and Spock had that on Starbase 21. You certainly came back glowing like you had. At the very least, Spock pleased you well. That's why I should have known something was wrong when Stonn took an interest in you."

"He fooled all of us well. I thought he was just a friend from school that you'd been partnered with while you worked towards your degree in interspecies relations. But you graduated, and he was still there. I should have noticed your increasing distance from Spock, the warm relationship that suddenly cooled. It wasn't like it was very gradual. You had been planning to meet Spock again just months before. I know you told me that leave had been cancelled, but something didn't add up, and I ignored it."

The door opened again. "If that man ever shows up, I'm disemboweling him."

"I hope you mean Stonn, my wife." Sarek was back.

"I do"

"T'Ziar needs a new outfit, I believe. There was a small accident involving T'Pau's tea. I fear going into my granddaughter's closet. Perhaps you could retrieve an appropriate outfit while I talk to my son's beloved?"

"Certainly, my husband." Amanda's footsteps exited the room, and T'Pring heard only silence for a few minutes. For a moment she thought she had been left alone.

"I have not treated you as I should have, T'Pring." If there was a list of sentence that T'Pring had never expected to hear from Spock's father, that one was somewhere near the top of the list not at the top of the list ... that was reserved for him saying that Spock was right. "If I had done as I should have for a member of my house, you and T'Ziar would have been living in the cottage on the grounds of the family compound, much as Amanda and I did when we were first bonded."

"Indeed, if I had done as I should, there would have been no challenge at the place of marriage, and you and Spock would be gifting each other with gifts of fine china, to go with what my wife tells me is tradition. You should have been with Spock at the Academy. I failed you and Spock."

"I wanted Spock to follow in my footsteps, as I had my father, and his father before him. Then I acted like T'Ziar when she was just a toddler. My actions with Spock this last score have not been that of a proper Vulcan. And you have suffered the most for it."

"When I chose you to bond with Spock, I chose you because your family was an honorable one. I knew you would not be what Amanda calls a shrinking violet. The line of Surak can not afford one of those. I didn't realize how far you were from that until you stood with Spock. You and Spock are very well matched, and I wish I could say that I'd foreseen that."

"In fact, I thought I'd made a big mistake for some years, starting with the day you first visited our home. I admit that the statue outside the front door is intimidating, but when I looked out of my study and saw you at the door, I thought you were going to run away. It was not what I expected. You've never been what I expected, actually."

"You have given me what I needed, what I should have wanted, from the woman who bonded with my son. You knew him better than I did, and supported him when I could and would not. You raised my granddaughter through obstacles that you never should have had, and raised her well at that. Every time I thought you were going to fail, you and Spock proved me wrong, until Stonn. Even then you managed to, as T'Ziar once said to me, pull a rabbit out of that hat."

"T'Ziar has been as Amanda calls her, an unexpected blessing. I pride myself on my emotional control, but without the memories of my granddaughter to serve as a balance, I'm afraid that the Andorian Ambassador would have a few bruises. I'm certain that the late Ambassador Stoval would berate me for that ... but I think I could justify it to him. Ambassador Trant tends to invade my personal space too much. I actually had to pull him and the Tellerite Ambassador apart at Babel."

"Thy opinion on Ambassador Trant is noted and shared, my grandson." T'Pring hadn't heard the door open to admit the ancient Vulcan. "I'm afraid that the Diplomatic Service is looking for you with some urgency. I shall relieve you of this duty, so you may quickly handle their problem and return. I expect that thy bonded daughter awaits more of thy confessions."

"Then by your leave, I shall make a swift trip to handle the latest crisis." The door opened and closed again, allowing T'Pring to hear the sounds of carts being pushed by.

"T'Pring, daughter of T'Rhea of the House of Skorr, thy life thus far has been a puzzle to me." T'Pau admitted, her formal tone filling the room with gentle support. "Thy bondmate has troubled me as well. I am well known among the people of Vulcan, and aware of the pressures of thy stated position at the koon ut kal if fee. However, I have not seen signs that thy has been troubled by it before. It puzzled me. Thy one encounter with the press was dealt with well, and thy daughter has never been approached by them."

"I must tender my apologies for not realizing the real issue. Stonn was a most deceptive man. His subtle manipulations of you were most carefully done, I must admit. That does no excuse any of us. Before he came into thy life, you and Spock had a bond that was the envy of those who wish to admit we still have such emotions. I have been one of those."

There was silence after that. T'Pring felt herself falling asleep. Before she did so, her left eyebrow rose im amusement. Who would have thought that all Vulcan in one package would admit to the one emotion which Surak's teachings had spent the most time on how to master and control. The world went silent.

When she started to wake up again, T'Pring noticed that she was now feeling a lot of aches and pains that she hadn't felt before. There appeared to be more people in the room now, judging from the soft muttering she was hearing.

"I don't want to leave mother's side, Grandmother." That had to be her daughter, T'Ziar. The contra-alto that her adult voice had settled in was music to T'Pring's ears. It always was. "Daddy will be here shortly anyway. He'll understand."

"Thy intentions have been noted, daughter of Spock," T'Pau said. T'Pring was surprised that T'Pau was still there. "Go, my daughter, your husband awaits you, and your son's arrival. I shall keep T'Ziar from the rampaging beast that is her betrothed."

The door opened, and someone walked out. T'Pring assumed it was her mother-in-law.

"Thee has never figured out why Spock is an only child ... nor you. I trust that it shall not continue for another generation." T'Pring had always suspected that T'Pau was in favor of large families.

"That depends on my carreer, honored matriarch. I do intend to be at Star Fleet Academy this coming term. My honored mother intends to be joining me. I hope she recovers in time."

"Her wounds are healing, and her mind is strong. Thy mother will be with thee, finally following her dream."

"You knew my mother's dream to go to the Academy?" T'Pring was likewise surprised at the statement. She'd thought everyone had assumed that it was Spock's dream.

"I know thy mother better than she realizes. Thy mother may have played the supporting mate role when Spock argued with Sarek to go to Star Fleet Academy, but I get a list of the top scorers in the Academy Entrance Exam for Vulcan every year, and I know that she still holds at least the Vulcan record for scores on both the entrance exam and the command exam, though thy scores come close, falling between thy mother's and thy fathers, as thee should expect."

That surprised T'Pring. She knew her scores were high, but not that high. She had also thought that she had artfully hid her own desires when she stood up for Spock. It seemed that T'Pau had seen right through her. She wondered if anyone else had.

"I'm afraid that I must leave thee alone with thy mother for a bit. It seems that thy future school needs my attention. Thee should talk to thy mother. Mastery of thy emotions do thee credit, but not to thy health's detriment."

T'Pring wondered about that. She had no idea how long she'd been out, and it was obvious to her that the paternal side had been trying to make sure that T'Ziar took care of herself. She knew that T'Ziar would be sitting at her bedside when she woke up, just like she used to when ever T'Pring tried to sleep in.

It had been really quite amusing. T'Pring had no idea where Spock had gotten the green terran stuffed bunny, but one day when T'Ziar was just three and T'Pring had nothing scheduled in the morning, she'd woken up with T'Ziar by her bed. A little red rocking chair, the gift of Amanda, had been placed by the bed, and T'Ziar was holding her bunny against her cheek as her mother's eyes opened. The little girl looking up at her that way, it was an image that T'Pring would always treasure of her daughter.

"Moh'ing." Nothing came after the greeting for a bit. It was the way T'Ziar called her when she was really young. Over the years it had grown to be a private greeting between the two, denoting when T'Ziar had something she really wanted to tell her mother. T'Pring wished she could open her eyes and see her daughter, or at least say something, but she couldn't.

"I'm so afraid. When I found Stonn standing over you, his hands on your forehead, blood coming from your nose, I thought you were dead. I charged him. I think I hit him, but he tried to punch me back, and the next thing I knew he was gone and you were on the floor with the nose still bleeding."

T'Pring remembered how Stonn had attacked her, with that stunning blow done with the palm of his hand hitting her nose. She'd still been stunned, her nose bleeding when his mind had attacked hers, driving her back, retreating into her deepest mind layer.

"Mother, I'm afraid. If you never wake up, I'll never get the courage to leave for the Academy. T'Pau says I did well in my entrance exam, but not as well as you. I don't know if I'll ever measure up. Father is First Officer and Science officer on the Enterprise, highly ranked in his computer skills. And you're ... well ... you raised me. Samul and I intend to have a family someday, and you've set a bar where I'll never meet. You were always there for me."

"When the other students teased me, you helped me deal with it. When I had trouble with linear algebra, you tutored me. When I got my first menstruation, you were there for me. When I got into a fight, you healed me, and then punched the mother of the boy who had bulled Samul and I when she claimed I was in the wrong. I'll always remember that punch."

T'Pring would never forget that punch either. The bigoted mother had the nerve to claim that the fight was started by T'Ziar, even though there were witnesses to the contrary, blaming it on T'Ziar's human blood. Then T'Rae had had the nerve to use the same slur that had her bully of a son had started the attack with. T'Pring had not expected the round of applause when T'Rae landed in the pond.

"Mother, I think Samul is going to enter pon farr soon. And you know how fertile I am. We're not ready for it, and you know first pon farr results in a pregnancy ninty-nine point forty four percent of the time. I don't want to delay going to the Academy like you did. I'm not ready to be a mother."

There was a moment of silence after T'Ziar admitted that. T'Pring wasn't really surprised to hear it. She suspected that Samel was close. There were enough signs of it. Hopefully they could make it to the Academy in a couple weeks before it happened. T'Pring had made it a point to study all the regulations on pregnancy. They wouldn't admit you if you were pregnant, they were supposed to defer your enrollment, though they hadn't in her case. Once you were at the Academy, however, a different set of rules applied. Unlike T'Pring and Spock, as well, T'Ziar and Samul would be considered married when they arrived at the Academy. T'Pau had seen to the legal requirements, even though the ceremony wouldn't occur until later.

T'Pring heard the sounds of the hallway, as her daughter admitted, "Mother, I wish you could tell me it would be all right." T'Pring felt her daughter grasp her hand. T'Pring concentrated with all her power to squeeze her daughter's hand in reassurance. She felt her daughter's face agaist her chest, and her hospital gown grow wet as sobs escaped T'Ziar's control.

"Your mother may not, my little desire, but I will." T'Pring felt her heart beat race. Spock was here. "It will be all right." Her daughter let go of her hand, and she could tell that T'Ziar had buried herself in her father's arms.

After a moment, T'Pring felt Spock's fingers gently pressing hers. Their bond, long suppressed, exploded into existence, and T'Pring felt his soothing presence in her mind. 'Wake up, my beloved wife, my desire, my life.'

T'Pring opened her eyes to find Spock staring into them. Their daughter was at her father's side, signs of her tears still visible on her face. "Spock," T'Pring said, her voice horse with disuse. "Forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive, my wife," Spock replied, and through their bond, T'Pring could tell it was true. Tears of acceptance rolled down her face. "We are one in our desire." T'Pring heard Spock in her mind, "to get out of this hospital and spend some time together." The word together was infused with images pulled from their many times together.

T'Pring found herself flushed with arousal, as she stared up into her bondmate's eyes. The moment seemed to stretch on forever, but ended all to soon.

At the opposite end of the room in the ceiling was a large vent, and with a clatter it popped out and fell down to the floor. Following it down was Stonn, who was armed with an collapsed lirpa, which he quickly expanded.

"Spock must die!" Stonn announced, his eyes wide and mad. The lirpa thrust at Spock, who stepped backwards out, barely out of range.

T'Pring watched in horror as Stonn closed on her Spock again. Spock caught the lirpa during the next thrust, and twisted it. The fan blade towards him broke off. Spock's eyebrow went up as the haft of the lirpa shot out to the left of the bed. Stonn looked in shock at the shorn end of the lirpa, forgetting that there was another opponent in the room.

T'Ziar reached from behind Stonn, searching out for that special spot. She'd never done the famous neck pinch before, but beginners luck was with her. Stonn sank bonelessly to the floor, his lirpa falling from his grasp.

"Spock to Enterprise. Security Team to beam to my location immediately." Spock looked at T'Pring after examming the fan blade of the lirpa that he held. "It seems that Mister Stonn purchased inferior grade weaponry. This is imported balsa wood, painted silver."

The sound of transporters filled the room, and five security officers lead by Ensign Chekov appeared, phasers drawn.

"Ten point six seconds. You must have been waiting." Spock said. "Please take Mister Stonn into custody for assaulting a Star Fleet Officer. I have spoken with T'Pau and she suggests that you take him to the Han-ka-far Station. You will do so and remain on guard until relieved on my orders, or that of T'Pau."

The security officers picked up Stonn, and his his lirpa and quickly exited. T'Pring watched as Spock intensely observed them, all the while reminding her of his love via their touching two fingers. T'Zair seemed to be pushing Stonn out with her eyes. "I wish you'd managed to throw that man out." T'Pring could practically taste her daughter's bitterness in the statement.

T'Pring felt a sudden mischievous thought from her husband, before he spoke. "I'm afraid that your mother doesn't throw the first Stonn."

"Father, if you're going to go into that punny routine for me again, I suggest you remember that I am no longer a child," T'Ziar said.

Spock's eyebrow rose. "I was not aware that adulthood prohibited one from annoying ones children. Did anyone tell your grandfather?"

"I'll go talk to him ... at least he and grandmother won't be all emotive like you are with mother. Mother, I am pleased to see your recovery." T'Ziar bowed, and left the room.

"Well, Spock, I heard everyone else's confessions while I was indisposed. Do you have anything to confess."

"I believe so," Spock replied, as he turned and locked the door.

T'Pring found Spock's confession of his love for her to be most satisfying.


End file.
